Taking place from Friday 9th until Sunday 11th March, and with a focus on The One And The Many, the weekend is an examination of our role as individuals in a world furiously driven by connectivity. Through the medium of debate, music, lecture, poetry and social media, BBC Radio 3’s hive-minded team of collected intellect will explore subjects ranging from economics to Mozart, taking on gang culture, power relationships, women’s rights, death, war, being lonely (and its benefits), social media, mass hysterics, literature and crime; and that’s just the Saturday.

Performances from The Unthanks, a combined Geordie and Jersey choir (award-winning, by the way), The Keelers, Amharic singer and krar player Haymanot Tesfa, Iranian percussionist Arian Sadr, and Julian Rachlin with the Royal Northern Sinfonia provide musical relief for furrowed brows along with the usual Radio 3 musical interludes. The BBC have rightly recognised the North East as a hotbed of progressive, mindful, intrigued and principled individuals, joined by a collective thirst for knowledge and experience. They also know we like free thinking, so all the tickets are: there is a ridiculous amount going on over three days and nights, so if you find you have a couple of spare hours, grab some tickets and think, for free.